Did Bryson DeChambeau winning US Open hurt PGA, LIV Golf merger?

We are just two weeks removed from LIV golf superstar Bryson DeChambeau being crowned US Open champion, and many important questions in the professional golf world have arisen since then.

Many breaking stories come and go in the golf world, but the biggest story that isn’t going anywhere is the PGA and LIV merge discussions. As an avid golf fan, all I want at this point is for the best players to all play on the same tour once again. And I think most would agree with me.

Did Bryson DeChambeau winning the US Open hurt the chances of that happening?

Not much information has leaked pertaining to the ongoing negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV. That tells me that they haven’t gotten very far, and I think DeChambeau winning two weeks ago is only going to muddy the water.

The PGA Tour has always been a bigger brand than LIV, but LIV may be slowly catching up thanks to their success in the majors. The four majors are as critical as they’ve ever been as it’s the only time PGA and LIV guys battle it out. Most expected the PGA Tour players to dominate considering they still have most of the firepower on their tour, but that hasn’t been true.

Over the last eight majors, four have been won by current PGA guys and four by LIV guys. And to top it all off, potentially the most talked about and popular player right now in DeChambeau just won the most recent major, stealing as much of the limelight from the PGA Tour since LIV has existed. And on top of that, he defeated Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour’s golden boy who has been the most aggressive against LIV.

While the previous LIV players who have won a major have given the LIV owners some bargaining power, DeChambeau winning the US Open gives LIV the most bargaining power they’ve ever had. Just look at the crowd size that came to watch DeChambeau play in Nashville the week after the Open. I don’t think anyone thought they’d ever bring in that type of crowd in America.

So DeChambeau’s recent victory, along with the popularity he now has among golf fans around the world, tells me that a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV may have drifted even further apart. And as someone who wants to see the best players compete against each other each week, that is not what I wanted to see.